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Popup Chinese

Xenia Hell and her stupid useless...

The most convenient way to learn Chinese the way it is actually spoken and used. Start with our basic lessons, and in no time you"ll be listening to music, watching films and television and engaging in the actual language. With free daily podcasts, a vibrant community, online study tools and much more, PopupChinese is the most powerful and personal way to learn mandarin.

education language learning

All Episodes

9:31

Popup Chinese — Elementary: Performance Anxiety

Popup Chinese ·

2026/10/03

As she waited for the judges to render their verdict, Lee reviewed her performance in her head. Her decision to sing "Yesterday Once More" had been risky. The song was overplayed, but she felt her syncopated interpretation made it fresh once again. And objectively speaking, there was no doubt her performance was one of the strongest of the evening. Even now she could sense the stunned respect of the audience, while the judges sat in a thoughtful, almost reverent, silence.Our elementary lesson for

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1:05

Popup Chinese — Intermediate listening test: The Airlock

Popup Chinese ·

2026/09/30

There was a deep silence after the sirens stopped blaring, and then chaos broke out. As the crew scuttled to the cargo bay, each couldn't help but wonder what had brought them to this point. Stranded light years from human settlement with nothing but their wits and a thin hull separating them from the vacuum outside. And then a comforting thought. At least they had the captain: he would know what to do.Think your Chinese is good? Join us in this Intermediate listening test as we push it to the

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0:39

Popup Chinese — Intermediate listening test:...

Popup Chinese ·

2026/09/20

Did you know the average person spends two to three years of their life sitting on the toilet? It goes without saying that most of this time is not spent productively, which is why we're pleased to share this listening test with you today. In it we offer up a life-saving secret that will help free up some of your time for more important things like studying Chinese.Office visitors please note: in response to the growing popularity of this technique among staff, we have implemented draconian controls

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0:56

Popup Chinese — Intermediate listening test: The...

Popup Chinese ·

2026/09/18

One of our ulterior motives with this entire podcasting business is getting famous and good-looking Chinese celebrities into our recording studios (yes, we take requests). Which is how we're able to bring you this recording starring one of the more recognizable celebrities you're likely to encounter in China. Although she may not be Cecilia Cheung, if you've been in China for a while we're pretty sure you'll recognize her....In this listening test your challenge is to listen to our recording once

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9:47

Popup Chinese — Elementary: Living Together

Popup Chinese ·

2026/09/17

By the time Betty arrived home, her normally sedate neighborhood was abuzz with excitement. The police cruisers camped on the street were only the most visible sign of the investigative unit that had arrived hours earlier to cordon off the block and interview the neighbors. As she headed inside, Betty caught a far-off glimpse of two junior detectives taking soil samples from her back garden.Bursting into her home, she caught sight of the lead detective in the living room and charged over to demand

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8:15

Popup Chinese — Elementary: The Road Trip

Popup Chinese ·

2026/09/15

Remember the epic road trips of your youth? Our lesson today goes out to every eight year old who has ever had to sit still in the backseat for eight hours trapped between two quarreling siblings while the family enjoyed a nice drive into the countryside.If you're a premium subscriber, please note that we've enabled our Speaking Practice recording service for this lesson. Click through to our text page to find our toll-free telephone number. Call us and enter your dedicated PIN number when prompted

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10:05

Popup Chinese — Intermediate: How to Swear in Chinese

Popup Chinese ·

2026/09/11

Ever smashed your finger in a car door and found yourself at a loss for words? In this podcast we'll teach you how to swear in Chinese using a relatively low-level Chinese swear word. If you haven't run into it before, the word we'll introduce is basically the equivalent of damn in English. If you or your conversation partners are offended easily you may want to skip this one for one of our more family friendly podcasts.Swearing is a sensitive topic, but it's critical to know how socially

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7:14

Popup Chinese — Intermediate: The Advertising Age

Popup Chinese ·

2026/09/09

While the usual suspects spend billions on branding campaigns in China, it's often smaller companies with more forceful sales messages that capture our hard-earned yuan. In our lesson for today Popup Chinese is proud to present a short advert for no-name cola that mascarades as instructional dialogue. And for extra inundate-the-listener goodness, we're pleased to introduce our latest jingle too. We hope you like them both.Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original

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19:36

Popup Chinese — Quiz Night: Attack of the Fascist...

Popup Chinese ·

2026/09/05

Nazi refreshments, racist stereotypes from the 1980s and boy bands that refuse to die. Such are just a few of the topics you can expect this week on our Popup Quiz Night, along with our usual round of China questions designed to make you absolutely insufferable to friends and family alike.Learning Chinese? Our Popup Chinese quiz show is intended for people who already have pretty good mandarin but are looking for a fun way to expand their vocabulary. It features nine questions split into three

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8:51

Popup Chinese — Intermediate: A Terrible Hunger

Popup Chinese ·

2026/08/31

Revenge is a dish best served cold, and without any incriminating evidence linking you to the crime. That's why the heads of major criminal syndicates have to be a bit circumspect in making certain requests, and it's why we return to our mob series today with an update on the dealings of the Beijing demi-monde. In this episode, join us as our mob boss is seized with a terrible hunger which can be sated only through violence.Our dialogue today is on the easier side for an Intermediate lesson, but

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8:41

Popup Chinese — Absolute Beginners: Feel My Total...

Popup Chinese ·

2026/08/30

So, you've woken up at some ungodly hour in the morning to start hauling yourself out of bed when a minor epiphany strikes. Why get out of bed at all? Isn't there something better you can do with your day than this car trip to Tongzhou. And whose crazy idea was this anyway? How about just sleeping in past noon? Now there's a capital idea. And maybe in a few hours you could even head downstairs and get some breakfast, or maybe watch a movie. Or maybe just stay in bed all afternoon.At Popup Chinese

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18:55

Popup Chinese — Quiz Night: Communist beards we know...

Popup Chinese ·

2026/08/29

After succumbing last episode to Brendan's wide-ranging knowledge of everything save contemporary pop music, Echo has switched sides this week to serve as Chinese quizmaster in a show that pits podcaster Sylvia against voice-legend Andy in a China-vs-China battle of the wits. And with a Chinese Mobile recharge card hanging in the balance, and SMS messages just waiting to be sent, the stakes could not be higher for our contestants.Learning Chinese? Our quiz show is intended for people who already

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0:54

Popup Chinese — Advanced listening test: The Band's...

Popup Chinese ·

2026/08/27

Today we bring you yet another overlooked perspective on a great historical event. We don't want to say too much more because this is a listening test and part of the goal here is for you to figure out what is going on yourself. So give this podcast a listen and then click through to our online quiz to test your listening comprehension. It may not be as easy as you think.Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every

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7:54

Popup Chinese — Elementary: The Shark Tank

Popup Chinese ·

2026/08/26

Notice that shark over there? That's right, our Elementary Chinese lesson for today is all about man-eating beasts of the deep. It is unapologetically inspired by Jaws III, and particularly that scene where the Great Whites start ramming the underwater observation tunnels at Seaworld to the shock and horror of the soon-to-be-eaten tourist hordes.Despite the fact that its dialogue was written by an eight year old, our podcast for today offers more than weeks of unrelenting nightmares for the

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8:59

Popup Chinese — Elementary: No, you cannot build a...

Popup Chinese ·

2026/08/24

Today we're pleased to support all you parents out there with a lesson that will teach you how to crush the hopes and dreams of your offspring with two simple words. Whether your child's interests lie in backyard construction, the sporting life, or more prosaic things like a chance to leave their room and enjoy their sixth birthday, this is your chance to put that foot down and establish some parental authority. Enjoy!Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original

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13:59

Popup Chinese — Film Friday: Let the Bullets Fly / 让子弹飞

Popup Chinese ·

2026/08/21

In our inaugural episode of the Popup Chinese movie show, opinions split over Let the Bullets Fly, the Chinese western directed by Jiang Wen and starring train-robbing, gun-shooting and horse-riding versions of himself and Chow Yun-Fat. This is the film that broke the Chinese box-office record shortly after its release, but considering that its competition that year included possibly the worst Chinese film ever made, we thought it about time for a discussion of whether the film is actually any

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8:14

Popup Chinese — Elementary: The Honest Cabbie

Popup Chinese ·

2026/08/20

Why is it that despite the enormous variety in our personal experiences, we all end up having exactly the same conversation with cab drivers? You know the drill. Where are you from? Are you used to eating Chinese food? Can you use chopsticks? Like Chinese water torture, the deadening repetition invites psychological defense mechanisms just to cope, like inventing new personal histories for each encounter.But then, just when you're about to lose faith in humanity, you run into a cabbie who is

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13:54

Popup Chinese — Intermediate: Golden Monkey Throat...

Popup Chinese ·

2026/08/19

You may have heard the slanderous rumours about our brand circulated by that other Golden Monkey pharmaceutical company. Don't believe the lies! Golden Monkey Throat Lozenges offer soothing relief from a range of symptoms with minimal side effects and a great orange taste. If you are suffering from any number of ailments or body image problems, call our telephone hotline and get medical relief with next-day delivery!The old-timers among you may remember our first part to the world-famous Golden

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8:09

Popup Chinese — Intermediate: Golden Monkey Throat...

Popup Chinese ·

2026/08/18

Sore throat? Dry, hacking cough? Golden Monkey Throat lozenges offer soothing relief from pain and a great orange taste! Listen to today's podcast for a lesson in the power of sheer repetition as a marketing technique. In no time you'll be asking for them by name!Navigate re-incarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup CantoneseReincarnated Popup

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8:48

Popup Chinese — Elementary: I am not a Spy

Popup Chinese ·

2026/08/17

Navigate re-incarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup CantoneseReincarnated Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese — Popup ChineseReincarnated Popup Chinese shows — Popup Chinese shows — Popup Chinese shows

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